The Goat Life, aka Aadujeevitham, is based on a bestselling novel written by Benyamin and adapted for the screen by Blessy. It is the horrifying tale of a man who is stuck on a goat farm deep inside the Saudi desert and decides to risk his life and escape from there. It sends shivers down your spine when you realize that the story is inspired by the real life of a man named Najeeb Muhammad, who went to Saudi Arabia in 1991 in search of work but got stuck there for the next two years. While most of the events portrayed in the film did take place in real life, director Blessy has taken few creative liberties for dramatization purposes. There are very few films that have a runtime of almost 3 hours, but they can still hold the attention of the viewers. The Goat Life is one such film, and it is going to impact you in ways that you cannot imagine. From the background score, cinematography, and editing to the nuanced performances, the entire cast and crew of the film have outdone themselves. So, let’s find out what is shown in the film and what actually happened in real life.
Najeeb lived in Arattupuzha village in Kerala, and he actually had to sell off his lands in order to get his documentation done. Najeeb paid approximately Rs. 55,000 to his agent in the hopes that his life was completely going to change in the days to come and that it would be worth the risk he had taken. Though his life did change drastically, the next two years became a nightmare for him. So Najeeb reached Riyadh airport, and a man came to take him. Now, I am not sure if a person named Hakeem also came with Najeeb or not, but according to Benyamin, a person by that name did exist who accompanied Najeeb when he was trying to escape from the desert farm. Benyamin said that he tried to contact Hakeem, but there was no response from him or his family, so he does not know where the man is now. I personally believe that the demise of Hakeem is a fictional subplot added to the film, which, in a way, represents the deaths of all those unfortunate souls who went to the Middle East in search of a better life.
Najeeb lost his will to live on that desert farm, and why wouldn’t he? It was a miracle in itself that Najeeb was alive, and he was in no condition after 2 years to run from that godforsaken place. Najeeb, in real life, too, went through an identity crisis where he stopped seeing himself as a human being. The way he was treated, he started feeling that he was also one of the goats in the herd. He couldn’t speak the language of the Arabs, and he didn’t have anyone else around him who could speak in his mother tongue. So, with the loss of identity, he also stopped speaking altogether, which we also saw in the film. When Najeeb met Hakeem in the film, we saw that he was speaking gibberish and had a hard time communicating his thoughts.
During an interview with the lead actor of the film, Prithviraj, Najeeb stated that he was hit by the goat many times. He told how he was given stale bread in the morning, which was so hard that he dipped it in goat milk to make it edible. Najeeb wanted the gods to take his life and end his misery. He slept on the ground, hoping that an insect would bite him and that he would never wake up from his slumber. It is true that when his Kafeel had gone to attend the wedding of his kin, he escaped from there. Now, according to Benyamin, he had Hakeem with him, who accompanied him on the journey, but I don’t know to what extent it is true. Also, I believe that the character of Ibrahim Khadiri, the Somali who helped Najeeb and Hakeem, is also Benyamin’s imagination and is not based on a real-life person. In the book, the man appears, shows Hakeem and Najeeb the right path, and helps them escape. Then, without the expectation of getting anything in return from them, he disappears without even saying goodbye. In the film, it is shown that he was a fugitive, which is why he did not accompany Najeeb to the city.
In real life, Najeeb never told his family about what he went through. It was only after the novel was published that his children got to know what their father had endured. Najeeb said that normally, he would fall ill quite often, but during his stay in the desert, he never got a fever or suffered any ailment. He believes that the gods wanted him to escape from that hell and become a source of hope and courage for others. Today, Najeeb inspires hundreds of people, though there are days when it gets difficult for him to deal with the traumas of his past.
